Hi All,
I'm new to this list and thought that I should introduce myself. I have
interests in both performance magic (legerdemain, etc) and
esoteric/occult/paranormal/supernatural/real/supernormal/preternatural/etc
magic.
My book The Trickster and the Paranormal draws heavily on the concepts of
liminality and anti-structure developed by Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner,
and Barbara Babcock and structuralist ideas of Claude Levi-Strauss, Edmund
Leach, and Rodney Needham. Much paranormal and magical phenomena can be
understood with those conceptions. Some of these figures (and even the
notions of liminality and anti-structure) are given little attention today.
But the 1960s and 1970s saw innovative scholarly work on ritual and myth,
and literature from that period can still be fruitfully applied.
My book's Introduction is at--
http://www.tricksterbook.com/Intro.htm
My article "Ghosts and Liminality" is an example of how I have applied the
concept of liminality. It's at--
http://www.tricksterbook.com/ArticlesOnline/GhostsAndLiminality.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/kkd2zs
I have a particular interest in the anti-structural side effects of magical
practice and other attempts to elicit paranormal phenomena. Many magic
practitioners and parapsychologists seem to be oblivious to side effects of
their activities.
My interests also include the position of magic and paranormal phenomena in
relation to processes of rationalization (in Max Weber's sense),
secularization, and demythologization. The continuing marginality of magic
and the paranormal is one symptom of their inherent liminality.
Regarding my background, for eight years I was employed full time by
parapsychology laboratories. I'm a member of the International Brotherhood
of Magicians (Order of Merlin).
Sincerely,
George P. Hansen
Author: The Trickster and the Paranormal
http://www.tricksterbook.com
http://paranormaltrickster.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/ParaTrickster
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